Shubman Gill was on Saturday appointed India’s new Test captain while Rishabh Pant was named his deputy, starting with the five-match series in England.

The selectors’ decision on the team’s leadership was on expected lines following the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Young left-hander B Sai Sudharsan earned his maiden Test call-up.

The squad also features Karun Nair, who returns to the national team after seven years. A notable exclusion is pacer Mohammed Shami, who was deemed not fit enough for the long series.

Terrific player, says Agarkar

“Last year or so we have looked at Shubman (for leadership). We are hopeful he is the guy who is going (to take the team forward). It is a high pressure job but he is a terrific player. We wish him all the best,” said chief selector Ajit Agarkar after announcing the squad.

On Shami, he added: “His workload is not where it needs to be. We were hoping he will be available but it is unfortunate. At the moment he is not dully fit. From tour of Australia, Harshit Rana and Sarfaraz Khan have been dropped.

The team:

Captain: Shubman Gill

Team: Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kl Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwan, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Dhruv Jurel, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, JASPIRIT Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav

Schedule: India’s England Tour

June 20-24: 1st Test at Leeds

July 2-6: 2nd Test at Birmingham

July 10-14: 3rd Test at Lord’s

July 23-27: 4th Test at Manchester

July 31-August: 5th Test at The Oval